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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.v

A. MEYER.

MAGHINB'POR SHELLING {BEEN PEAS.

Patented, July 4, 1882;.

(No Model.) 1 4 Sheets-:Sheei; 2.

A. MEYER. V MAGHINB FOR SHELLING GREEN PEAS.

No; 260.494. Patented July 4, 1882,

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4,

f A; MEYER. MACHINE FOB SHELLING GREEN PEAS.. v No. 260,494. PatentedJu1y"4, 1882.

Scale. I

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j UNITED STATES;

PATENT ()FFICE.

AUGUST MEYER, oF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

' MACHINE FOR SHELLl NG'GREEN PEAS.

s'rncrrrca'rron forming part of Letters Patent No. 260,494, dated July4, 1882. Application filed March 17, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom itmay concern."

Be it known that I, AUGUST MEYER, ofBaL timo're city, State. ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesand Methods for Shelling Peas; and I hereby declare the same to befully, clearly, and exactly described as follows, reference beinghad tothe accompanying drawings, in

, pulley B. 1 In the frame A are mounted rollers Figure 1 is acentralvertic'al longitudinal sectional view-of the machine.v Figs. 2and d areelevations of the-opposite sides.- Fig. 4 is across-section onthe line w :20 of Fig. 1 Fig.

and it has for its object to effect a complete and'rapid separation ofthe pods or shells from;

r the peas without bruising or splittingthelat, ter; and my saidinvention consists,broadly,.

first, in simultaneously rollingand bending the pods, whereby they arecaused to split and per-2 mit the peas to fall out; secondly, in apeashelling machine embodying a series of parallelwires, cords,or narrowbelts adapted to roll and bend the pods; and, thirdly, in certain;features of construction and combinations of;

parts, as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings the machine is shown drawn to one-twelfthscale, the scale.

at the side of Fig. 4 being assumed to a halffoot subdivided intoinches.

is journaled a shaft carrying the main drivinga a, having grooves 19 011their peripheries for the wires 2 These latter are endless band's ledover the rollers a a, and they are sustained against sagging by a seriesof small rollers, 11, mounted in the frame A. The bearings of one of therollers a are made adjustable, and are provided .with screws a, so as toalter the tensionof the'wires '5,as may be desired.

An upper frame, A, is pivoted at one end in arms N, attached to thelower frame, and is adjustably supported by arms Q at the other.

' series.

The allowance to be made for photolithographic reduction'may be readilydetermined upon, comparingan inchscale to that on the accompanyingdrawings.

A is the main frame of the machine, in which This frame also carries apair of rollers, a, and

series of rollers b, similar to those of the lower frame, and-having acorresponding series of wires, 2'. The grooves in the upper set ofrolle'rs are immediately over the spaces between the grooves in thelower set, so that the wires do not come opposite each other. (See Fig.6.)-

one of the upper rollers is adjustable as toits bearings by means of ascrew, a, in order to alterthe tension of the upper wires.

On the shaft of the driving-pulley is keyed a wheel, B, (see i Fig. 3,)which gears with a wheel, N, on'the shaft of one of the rollers a,andthe same shaft carries a small wheel, a, that meshes with a largewheel, O,'on the shaft of one of the upper rollers a, whereby thelowerseries'of wires is driven faster thanthe upper the upper roller a issecured a wheel, D, that e'ngages'with a wheel, D, and this latter inturn meshes with a small wheel, d, on the shaft eof the feed-belt E.Tension of this belt is maintained by means of a screw, F. On the shaftof the end roller a is a wheel,

On the opposite end of the shaft of 7 k, that engages with a wheel, K,which drives a'revolvingbrush, j, designed to brush the wires 2" andremove any shreds of pod which might adhere to them. Stationary brushesJ J serveto supplement the action of thebrush "j and clean the lowerwires, 1'.

O is the receiving shelf or hopper, and G a discharging-chute, whichlatter is caused to oscillate by means of a lever, B, actuated by a camon the rear face of the wheel B. On the shaft of the wheel D is aroller, 0, having longitudinal grooves c, as shown. J

Beneath the wires 43 is a board, G, inclined downward from the middletoward the sides of the machine, and below its edges at either 1 side isan inclined ledge, G.

H is'an upwardly-inclined apron, mounted upon rollers, as shown, anddriven in the direction of the arrow by means of a belt, M, led

from a pulley on the shaft of the roller a. Ten- 7 vals collars i, theobject of which is to enforce the rolling of the pod and prevent it fromsliding along without turning.

In operation the peas are placed in the hopper 0, and are fed therefromto the oscillating chute C. They are taken up by the grooves c of thecylinder 0, and are discharged from the latter against the incline l,which delivers them to the belt E. The latter is provided with ribs ff,forming grooves in which the pods lie transversely to the length of themachine. The object of constructing this feeding mechanism as describedis to prevent the presentation of the pods endwise, or, indeed, otherthan truly transversely to the shellingwires. The pods, being deliveredby the ribs f upon the lower series of wires, are carried ,forward uponthem and between the two series of wires t t". Now, as the lower wirestravel much faster than the upper ones, as soon as the pods enterbetween them they commence to roll, and are atthe same time bent, asshown in Fig. 6. This treatment has the effect to burst the pods andbreak the little stems which attach the peas to the same, permitting thepeas to fall out of the pods. They fall between the lower wires and uponthe plate G, whence they are discharged by the ledges G upon the apronH. The latter is provided with ledges at its sides, formed by attachinga rope to the edges, like the bolt-rope of a sail, in order to preventthe peas from rolling oft at the sides. As before stated, this apron isupwardly inclined and moves in the direction indicated by the arrow. Theobject of this is to effect a separation of the peas from any fineshreds of pod which may fall between the wires, and the object is fullyattained; The peas, being practically spherical, roll down the apron andinto the outlet-chute 9, while the fragments of pod, being unable toroll, are carried upward by the belt, and are discharged at the upperroller as the belt passes over it. The empty pods are carried along bythe wires and fall into the revolving screen, which is of sufficientlylarge mesh to pass any peas which come out with the pods, and whichdischarges the empty pods upon the floor. This screen consists of aseries of radial reticulated plates, F, and it is driven by means ofabelt, L, led from a pulley on the lower apron-shaft. (See Fig. 2.)

It sometimes happens that a pod, afterbeing burst, opens out fiat andretains one or more peas, like a dish. The pod, being so shallow, willnot roll after being opened. These peas would be lost but for the screenF, which, in turning, effects the inversion of the half-pods, emptyingoutthepeas, which fall through the screen into the chute g.

The wires 1' t" are made of a coil, but preferably without a core,somewhat after the form of the motor-cables of dental engines, my obectbeing to secure perfect flexibility, together with a spring-like action,so as to bear with a yielding pressure on the pods and stand thecontinual bending over the rolls without breaking.

It will be seen that the action of the wires upon the pods, or ratherupon the peas, is in no sense a squeeze, as the wires of the two seriesare not opposite. each other, and the slightest twist of the pod issuliicientto break the tender stem which holds the pea to the pod,enabling it to roll from undera wire, should one be primarily oppositeit.

Should it be desired to subject the peas to afurther separation from anyminute particlesofstems or pods which were round enough to roll down theapron, they may be allowed to roll down an incline havingatransvcrsebreak, such as is used in sorting shot. The peas, being spherical,acquire a speed in rolling down the plane sufficient to cause them tojump the break, while the refuse matter falls therethrough.

The machine I have shown and described is such as would be used on alarge scale in shelling peas for packing; but a simpler machine couldreadily be made for household use, dispensing with the feed mechanism,the separating mechanism, and, indeed, consisting essentially of but twosets of wires and a simple crank for driving them. The few pieces of podwhich would fall with the peas into the receptacle could readily beremoved by hand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The method herein described of shelling green peas, consisting insimultaneously rolling and bending the pods, whereby they are caused toburst and discharge the peas, as set forth.

2. In a pea-shelling machine, a moving surface for rolling the pods, incombination with a series of ribs or wires arranged to bend the pods, asand for the purpose set forth.

3. In a pea-shelling machine, the combination, with means for rollingand bending the pods, of a device for separating the peas from the emptypods, substantially as described.

4. In a pea-shelling machine, a double series of wires or bands, thoseof one set being located opposite the interstices of the other, arrangedto roll and bend the pods, as set forth.

5. In a pea-shelling machine, a double se ries of wires or bands andmechanism for driving the same at different rates of speed, as setforth. I

6. In a pea-shelling machine, a series of wires or bands havingroughened or ribbed surfaces to enforce the rolling of the pods, as setforth.

7. Inapea-shelling machine, mechanism for rolling the pods and bendingthem, andafceding device adapted to deliver the pods with their lengthtransverse to the line of rolling, as set forth.

8. In combination with the double series of 1 I ll wires, a feedingdevice adapted to deliver the pods transversely upon the wires, as setforth.

9. A double series of endless wires or bands, in combination withmeansfor driving one set faster than the other anda series ofsupporting-rollers to prevent the sagging of the wires, as set forth.

10. In combination with the main frame, having rollers which carry aseries of parallel wires or bands, the upper frame, having a similarseries of wires and rollers, as set forth.

11.. In a pea=sheller and in combination with the double series ofwires, the supporting-rolls v, as set forth.

12. In combination with the shelling wires or bands, the feeding-belthaving transverse ribs, as set forth.

13. In combination with the shelling wires or bands, those of one setarranged opposite the interstices of the other, an inclined endlessapron adapted to separatethe peas from the shreds of pod, as set forth.

14. In combination with the shelling-wires, the brushes J, as set forth.

15. In combination with the .wires, the screen F, adapted to invert thedischarged pods, as set forth.

16. In combination with the shelling-wires, the fluted roller 0 andribbed feeding-belt, as set forth.

17. The shelling-wires consisting of coils having bands at intervals, asset forth.

" AUGUST MEYER.

Witnesses:

R. D. WILLIAMS, J NO. T. MADboX.

